Self-Driving Cars For Driving Enthusiasts

Self-driving cars are coming, and it will be awesome. The core benefits are huge: They improve mobility for folks who have trouble driving. They’ll increase overall safety thanks to their constant situational awareness and accident-avoidance chops. They’ll reduce congestion, since they can drive in tighter clusters more efficiently and safely than human drivers. They’ll take the physically draining monotony out of commuting. They could also finally bring an end to the scourge of drunk driving. (“Take me home — hic! — Jeeves ….”)

The projections are ridiculously rosy: A recent McKinsey & Co. study suggests that, even beyond the obvious benefits, billions of square feet in parking space will be saved since cars can park closer together, and that $190 billion in annual property damage losses will be saved when we finally stop crashing into stuff.

So there’s legitimate reason to get excited about all the successes companies like Google, Audi, Tesla, Mercedes, and others have had recently with everything from navigating around towns to driving long stretches on the freeway. But should car enthusiasts — those of us who really, truly dig the physical act of driving our own vehicles — really fret about our autonomous future? Is this the end of driving?

Not by a long shot. In fact, I’d go so far as to argue that we’re about to enter a Golden Age of driving, and it’s thanks directly to the advent of the autonomous vehicle. Let me explain …

1) Open roads will be more openIt can be hard for driving enthusiasts to find fun, open stretches of roadway to carve through turns and whistle down straights. But when autonomous cars arrive, congestion will practically vanish. This is because driving will become more efficient. The autonomous cars will know how to get places better and faster, and they’ll communicate with each other to strategize more broadly. Also, as more utility and delivery vehicles are rendered autonomous, they’ll be able to do their thing at night or in generally less obtrusive ways. What this means is that you’ll be able to float down the road unimpeded by traffic, whether you’re commuting or just out enjoying the experience of driving.

2) You can be selective about who drives whenSome cars will indeed by autonomous-only vehicles — Google’s little self-driving bug notably has no steering wheel at all — but for the most part, cars will still have full manual controls. This means you can tell the car to take you someplace, goof off on your phone or nap while it does, but then perk up and take over when you reach a particularly enjoyable stretch of pavement.

3) Other drivers won’t suck as badlyA key part of the risk that driving enthusiasts face is the presence of other cars on the road. Not in the sense that those other drivers prohibit us from being reckless hoons whenever we feel like getting our Fast and Furious on, but because recreational driving — i.e., having fun with your vehicle, safely and responsibly — often doesn’t sync up with the skill sets of other drivers on the road. Some drivers are hesitant, others too aggressive, and most accidents come down to human error. Evening out the skill set means that much less attentiveness needs to be paid anticipating the often unpredictable behaviors of other drivers. In short, you can focus on what you’re doing, not necessarily what everyone else is.

4) You won’t suck as badly, eitherThere are already many driver aids making ham-fisted weekend warriors look like track-day race gods — traction control, stability control, anti-lock braking. They all step in to save your bacon when you get into trouble. When you throw in the suite of additional technologies on the horizon, that means you’ll be even better behind the wheel. Partial autonomy means you won’t grow fatigued as badly. Improved sensing capabilities — other vehicles, obstacles in the road, changes in surface conditions with ice, water, gravel, etc — will also improve your own situational awareness when you’re actively driving yourself. You’ll receive steady streams of intel in more organic, intuitive ways while slicing and dicing your way to work. As a result, you’ll be a far better driver.